Very disappointing Show!Iíve been travelling up to haydock Park for the last 6-7 years as Iíve classed it as being one of the best shows you could go to through the year. I drove up and back yesterday which took me about 4hrs there and 4hrs back to find out the show was a empty!The show was at least 50% smaller than previous shows Iíve attended there over the years, loads of model boat club stands missing showing off there boats and only a handful of traders which it what everybody goes there for to stock up on some goodies, I spoke to a few traders I know very well and they hadnít even covered their costs, which is not good the Bring a buy stall tables were empty as of previous years the tables were jam packed with boats and items for sale.Personally i canít see the show running again as they wouldnít have even covered the costs of hiring the venue for the weekend which is real shame to see yet another, what was one of the best shows disappear of the calendar.Dave.

I spoke to the organisers who agreed that the show is much smaller than it used to be although, having not visited before, I enjoyed it myself.There can be little doubt that over the last three years there has been a major collapse in support for model boating events with some notable local exceptions.We have discussed this before and the reasons are pretty clear. The model boating community is ageing fast and this affecting clubs and traders alike. Clubs find it difficult to put in the effort to stage exhibitions and stands and many long standing traders are retiring or downsizing on grounds of age or ill health. Well known larger suppliers have gone out of business or been taken over as the market can no longer support them. We still have smaller niche traders but they now tend to rely on internet sales as attending shows is too expensive. Deans and MMM have resorted to staging their own events to keep costs down while still making their products available to see and touch. Maybe that is now the future as they also accommodate smaller traders.

Like it or not, the upcoming generations are simply not very interested in the hobby as they have other more up to date options available. Once upon a time lots of people were into pond yachts but you won't see many about now.I'm afraid the hobby will continue to decline but I must admit to being surprised at just how fast this now appears to be happening.And, as a postscript, it took me nearly 7 hours to get to Haydock on Friday as the motorways were a nightmare, dozens or miles of roadworks, accidents, broken down vehicles and general congestion. Luckily the return on Saturday was just 4 hours but you do think twice about travelling in those conditions,

Must admit,Haydock this year, very disappointed, I doubt if the organisers will runThe event again next year as no one can afford to run at a loss.It's a shame such a beautiful venue good location. Lack of visitors wich seems tobe the trend of boat shows just lately.I heard Models by Design Andy Grigg was not well, I wish him a very speedy recovery And everything goes well in the future.See you at Blackpool hopefully.

A show gets smaller so more people decide that it is not worth attending which makes the next show smaller so even more don't bother etc etc etc.

It might not be that the hobby itself that is collapsing quickly but rather that show attendance is collapsing.

I await Blackpool & Kenilworth.

Even Dortmund isn't what it used to be.

For me manufacturers holding their own shows is not the answer. I want to see a lot of them all together rather than spread around the country. It isn't worth traveling hundreds of miles, often to a location in the middle of nowhere (so no public transport), to see one manufacturer.

Ah, but why does it get smaller in the first place? Chicken and Egg I think. I agree that once a decline sets in it tends to snowball but the root issue is why it starts to decline initially and we are back to an ageing model boating profile which is simply not renewing itself.

On Saturday myself, my Dad and our club secretary paid our first visit to Haydock and we enjoyed ourselves a lot. Since we had no comparison to previous shows we were very impressed with the quality of the models on show and of course we met up with some of the usual faces from Mayhem and others that I know personally. It was great to chat with all three Colins- Colin Bishop (always enjoy our chats), Colin Vass (stunning models of Warspite and Zara) and Colin Miller (our Scottish Contingent) with Capt Ron and Big Bri. Whilst it tooks us 2.5 hours to get there, which wasn't too bad compared to some others and the traffic was very kind. It reminded me of my first model show I visited 16 years ago- loads of rooms that you found as you went along- it was all very exciting as we didn't have a map of the layout and we didn't know what you were going to see until you entered the room.Despite being fewer traders being present due to various reasons I still managed to get everything I had on my wish list. And seeing some of the spectacular models on display both complete and under construction- my favourite had to be the HMS Goliath 'steampunk styled' battleship.

Ah, but why does it get smaller in the first place? Chicken and Egg I think. I agree that once a decline sets in it tends to snowball but the root issue is why it starts to decline initially and we are back to an ageing model boating profile which is simply not renewing itself.

Colin

I agree with all that but I was offering a possible explanation for why the decline is much quicker than you expected & accelerating (your previous post). I, for one, won't be traveling very far for shows in the near future - which probably means never again.

It was good to have a catch up with Nick and Co especially after missing Wickstead this year

I was at the show with the Scottish Model Warship Assoc. and it was great to win the best stand award this year.We have along with others displayed at this show for numerous year and numbers were going down but this year was extremely poor with regards to visitors and it was sad especially given the effort the organisers, clubs and traders put into it allAs was mentioned to me at the weekend the old saying if you don't use it, you loose it is coming into force and to all us modellers it looks like we have lost another good show.

Colin Bishop has made some very valid points, I want to highlight something else and that was the consistent lies and rumours that were put about.since the organisers had the falling out with Mark Williams from a model world they have been plagued with this problem.there were rumour/reports every year the show had been canceled or that so many traders/clubs were not attending every year it was the same old rubbishLast year I had a friend contact me as he was displaying but had a message that it was all canceled and asked if I had heard anything before contacting the organisers again it was all rubbish.why people go out of their way to do this is beyond me and things like that DO NOT help anyone in this hobby it is perhaps one of the saddest things is that there is people out there who will be happy to hear this show is no more.

The Model Boat Convention was a great show and if it doesn't come back it will be missed and it will take something special to replace it.

One thing show orginser should consider is timming of the show. Summer hoildays people are away . Then to put it on a summer bank hoilday is madness. A lot of people will have made other plans see friends family things etc . The traffic is always bad on summer bank hoildays. Had they pushed the show back one weekend to this weekend comming. I would have said more people would be avaible to exibite and more people would be able and willing to travel. Just thoughts .

You could say the same about the Mayhem meeting. The drive up on the Friday from Guildford was an utter nightmare. Took even longer than getting to Haydock although only half the distance.

It does put you off.

Colin

True but more people go away in August than May. Also they are very diffrent shows. People throught the gate is not cruitail at Mayhem but nice. At other shows were venues are booked and payed for people through the gate is the making or breaking of the show .John